Venezuela seized a 7-5 advantage over Japan in the World Baseball Classic quarterfinal after Wilyer Abreu’s three-run home run, a late swing that altered the japan vs venezuela score as the game moved into the seventh inning. The rally built on a two-run shot by Maikel Garcia earlier in the fifth and followed an opening flurry that included leadoff homers by Ronald Acuña Jr. and Shohei Ohtani.
Japan Vs Venezuela Score: How Venezuela Built the Comeback
Venezuela trailed 5-2 before scoring five unanswered runs. Maikel Garcia hit a two-run home run in the fifth inning that ignited the rally, and Wilyer Abreu delivered a go-ahead, three-run moonshot to the upper deck in right field in the sixth. That swing gave Venezuela the lead and flipped the japan vs venezuela score to 7-5 in the top of the seventh.
The Abreu home run produced a dramatic celebration: the dugout emptied and Abreu tossed his bat as the ball carried out of the park, while loanDepot Park erupted with fans in Miami.
Ohtani and Acuña Break Ground With Leadoff Homers
The quarterfinal began with an unusual pair of leadoff homers. Ronald Acuña Jr. homered on the second pitch he saw from Yoshinobu Yamamoto, driving a fastball an estimated 401 feet to right-center for his second homer of the tournament. Shohei Ohtani answered in the bottom of the inning, leading off with a 427-foot drive to center off Ranger Suárez on a 2-1 slider; the ball left the bat at 113. 6 mph and marked Ohtani’s third home run of the WBC.
No regular or postseason game had previously featured leadoff home runs by two players who had won MVP awards, making the early exchanges historically notable.
Pitching, Defense and What Comes Next
Late-inning pitching moves and defensive plays have shaped the current scoreline. Venezuela turned to Angel Zerpa in the top of the seventh with the task of retiring Shohei Ohtani; Zerpa first retired Kenya Wakatsuki looking on a backdoor slider. Earlier, Japanese pitcher Atsuki Taneichi struck out Eugenio Suárez to complete a 1-2-3 inning through the heart of Venezuela’s order.
Venezuela’s Emmanuel De Jesus produced two impressive innings before being lifted to a standing ovation as he walked off the field in Miami. Japan made a pitching change in the sixth, bringing in José Buttó, who induced a groundout from Shugo Maki to start his night. Munetaka Murakami flew out to end De Jesus’s effective stint.
Defensively, Ezequiel Tovar made a key play on a soft but sinking Sosuke Genda line drive at the end of the sixth, and Venezuela’s inning-ending sequences included outs by Salvador Perez and Jackson Chourio. Ronald Acuña Jr. struck out looking to end an inning after Abreu’s homer, but Venezuela’s momentum has shifted markedly since the fifth inning.
The game continues into the later innings with Shohei Ohtani due up after the seventh-inning stretch and the japan vs venezuela score standing at Venezuela 7, Japan 5 as teams prepare for the next half-inning.
